Cypress UI & API Automation Testing Problem and Solution — DS

6 min readOct 8, 2024

Start with a brief introduction to Cypress and its importance in modern web development and testing workflows. Explain its benefits and why general troubleshooting is important for developers.

1) Installation

Problem: Discuss issues such as dependencies, versions, or environments that developers may encounter when installing Cypress.
Solution: Provide step-by-step instructions for troubleshooting probing issues, including checking the Node.js version, updating dependencies, and checking system requirements.

2) Test Execution Failures

Problem: Fixes common causes of test failures, such as configuration errors, environment changes, or scripting issues.
Solution: Discover strategies for solving test errors, such as using Cypress logs, reviewing test scripts, and checking environment variables.

3) Handling Asynchronous Operations

Problem: Describe challenges in handling irregular tasks that lead to runtime issues or unstable tests in Cypress tests.
Solution: Provide a better way to handle invalid operations in Cypress, including using cy.wait(), cy.request(), and asserting with cy.none().

4) UI Element Selection

Problem: Describe the problems encountered when selecting and using user interface elements such as dynamic IDs, nested components, or invisible elements.
Solution: Advise on choosing strong UI elements, implementing data analysis strategies, using Cypress commands like cy.get() with correct settings, and avoiding well-defined options.

5) Cross-browser Testing

Problem: Discuss cross-browser compatibility testing challenges with Cypress, such as differences in design or custom.
Solution: Describe cross-browser testing strategies with Cypress, including using Docker for browser isolation, leveraging Cypress’s built-in multi-browser support, and integration with cloud-based testing tools such as BrowserStack or Sauce Labs.

6) Debugging and Error Handling

Problem: Show common crash problems in Cypress tests, such as cryptic error messages or unresolved issues.
Solution: It provides tips for efficient debugging and error handling, including using built-in debug functions (cy.log(), cy.debug()), a debugger, and browser developer tools.

7) Test Data Management

Problem: Discuss test data management issues, including maintaining data integrity, managing data driven tests, or ensuring test reproducibility.
Solution: Provide better ways to manage test data in Cypress, such as using static data components, generating useful data with plugins like cypress-faker, and separating test data from test logic.

8) Reading Data from External Sources

Problem: Discuss the challenges encountered in Cypress testing when reading data from external sources such as databases, APIs, or CSV files.
Solution: List strategies for effectively reading external information:

Using request(): Access data from APIs during testing, validation and troubleshooting.
Using Cypress plugins: Integration of plugins like cypress-file-upload to manage file upload or cypress-localstorage command to manage local storage data.
Using fixtures: Import persistent data from JSON files using Cypress tools, data integrity checks and reproducibility tests.

Good to Read:- Tutorial on Cypress Automation Testing Tool

9) Reading Excel Data

Problem: Discuss the limitations of reading Excel data directly into Cypress tests due to browser limitations.
Solution: Provide steps to read Excel data correctly:

Convert Excel to JSON/CSV: Before processing Excel files in JSON or CSV format outside of Cypress using tools such as the xlsx library in Node.js or online converters.

Use Cypress plugins: Allow test data to be loaded into JSON or CSV files by connecting Cypress plugins such as cypress-file-deployment to file processing.

10) Writing Data to Excel

Problem: Addressing the challenge of writing data to an Excel file for Cypress testing.
Solution: Provide a way to write data to an Excel file safely and efficiently:

Export to CSV/JSON: Instead of writing to Excel, export data from Cypress test in CSV or JSON format using Cypress assignments.

Use backend APIs: Implement a backend function that creates an Excel file or processes based on data sent from Cypress tests using HTTP requests (cy.request()).
Use external scripts: Develop scripts or external tools outside of Cypress to create or update Excel files based on data collected during testing.

11) Flaky Tests Due to Timing Issues

Problem: Tests often occur when they are not available due to synchronization and animations. This can lead to inconsistent test results.
Solution: Use Cypress Commands for Automatic Retries, Cypress commands are automatically retried until the element is found or the assumption is passed. Always use Cypress commands to search for elements instead of native JavaScript methods.

12) Handling Multiple Assertions

Problem: When multiple assumptions are required, tests can fail and problems are difficult to diagnose.
Solution: Cypress allows you to chain commands, making your tests easier to read and maintain.

13) Asynchronous API Calls Affecting Test Flow

Problem: Asynchronous API calls can cause the test to fail due to timing issues, especially when assertions are made before receiving the API response.
Solution: Use cy.intercept() to intercept API responses , Cypress allows you to intercept API calls and stub responses, making your tests more predictable and faster.

14) Testing API Authentication

Problem: Testing authenticated API requests can be complex, especially if you need to manage tokens or session state.
Solution: Use custom commands to manage authentication, Create a custom command in Cypress to manage the connection and token storage.

Good to Read:- How to Automate Application Using Cypress Framework?

15) Handling Multiple API Requests

Problem: In many applications, multiple API requests can be triggered by a single user action. This can complicate your test, as you may need to ensure that all queries are executed and manage their responses accordingly.
Solution: Listen to multiple requests and wait for them all , You can intercept multiple API calls and use cy.wait() to ensure that all requests are resolved before making assertions.

16) Testing Pagination API Responses

Problem: API page responses can complicate testing, especially when you need to ensure that the correct data is returned to different pages.
Solution: Use cy.request() to retrieve the page data, You can use cy.request() to retrieve specific pages of data and validate the results.

17) Testing API with Different Environments

Problem: When working in different environments (dev, staging, production), you may need to change the API endpoint often.
Solution: It uses Cypress environment variables , Set specific environment variables in your cypress.json or as command line parameters.

18) Verifying API Security and Permissions

Problem: It can be essential to ensure that API endpoints are secure and that users have the appropriate permissions.
Solution: Test unauthorized access and role-based access, You can test unauthorized access and validate permissions to try to access protected routes without proper authentication.

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Originally published at https://www.devstringx.com on July 08, 2024